This is a collection of profound and ingenious chess problems composed by eight of the most outstanding American composers—160 masterpieces in all, with commentary and solutions in full detail. Any chess enthusiast working through this treasury will discover one subtle and exciting master problem after another, and a thorough reading cannot fail to augment the skill and style of any player, no matter how advanced. In his presentation the author also goes a long way toward helping the relatively unskilled player to master these ingenious problems.

The work of these composers (with the single exception of Sam Loyd's) is currently unavailable in any other book, being either out of print or previously uncollected. Loyd is well represented by 24 of his world-famous problems, with their unusual settings, spectacular keys and subtle continuations.

An equal number of problems displays the problemical skill of Henry Wald Bettmann, the prominent surgeon who was also the most outstanding American task composer in chess. There are 32 problems each by William Shinkman, "the wizard of Grand Rapids," showing his great ability to illustrate a strategic theme with a minimum number of men, and by his nephew Otto Wurzburg, a master in the blending of elegance of construction with strategical ideas. Eugene Cook, the earliest of the American masters, is represented by 8 of his lightweight problems; 16 problems by William Meredith, including a number of the type now called "Merediths," display his masterful economy of construction; and finally, George Carpenter, with his varied and colorful style, and D. J. Densmore, known for his ingenious illustrations of black interferences, are represented by 12 problems each. In a group of prefatory essays, the author—an internationally famous problemist, chess writer and editor, well-known as a judge in problem tourneys—provides a brief historical survey of chess problem composition in America, a detailed vocabulary of the specialized terms used in his commentaries and in discussing chess problems in general, and a short explanation of the notation used. This introductory material is especially helpful to those who wish to find an inroad of study to the expanding world of chess excitement that this book has to offer.